Gary Younge (A party not fit for power, and a system not fit for purpose, 29 March) is spot on in identifying the crisis in our constitution that Brexit has unfolded, but he prescribes the wrong medicine. The UK is in deep trouble. Europe is a symptom rather than the cause. Yes, the government is not fit to govern, but parliament is no longer fit for purpose. A superficial analysis would blame the first referendum for our current agonies. Why should a second binary referendum fair better rather than add fuel to the flames?
The leave vote is often attributed to the places and communities neglected and left behind by the UK’s economic success. Now we’ve all been left behind by a democracy trapped in the Westminster bubble. Put simply, government and parliament cannot do it on their own. In the short term, asking the people through a general election is the only way out, and the traditional one too. The parties then have the opportunity to reshape their manifestos in the light of the harrowing experiences of the past two years. In the longer term, we need a new democratic settlement between people and parliament; a written constitution that devolves power downwards to local communities; a bill of rights that includes social and economic rights – and policy and politicians that take account of the everyday economics of people’s lives.
In this way Brexit could be the beginning of something new, exciting and ultimately unifying, and not the end of something that is terribly broken.
Dr Katharine Sutton
Aspire Community Works, Bethnal Green, London
• Excellent juxtaposition of two smiling men – Michael Gove and Ole Gunnar Solskjær – on both front and back pages (29 March). Is there any chance that the country can go with the Norwegian model of leadership and management? It works rather well in Manchester.
Angus MacIntosh
Burley in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire
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